Regional Air Freight Carrier Affirms Support For Low-Carbon Aviation

Alpine Air Express has signed a letter of intent (LOI) to purchase up to 75 hybrid-electric ERA aircraft from French manufacturer AURA AERO.

Provo, Utah, -based Alpine Air Express is one of the largest regional air cargo carriers in America, operating over 100 regional flights across the country providing last-mile delivery of packages and freight for the large package companies like U.S. Postal Service, Amazon, and UPS. The company currently operates a fleet of more than 80 aircraft and plans to deploy the ERA (Electric Regional Aircraft) to advance its decarbonization efforts while simultaneously operating more efficient aircraft.

The versatile ERA has a full-opening cargo door and its volume to payload combination promises to reduce energy and maintenance costs by up to 50% per ton of cargo compared to older aircraft in its category.

Michael Dancy, Alpine Air Express CEO said, “Some aircraft serving the regional cargo markets are expensive to maintain. Alpine is excited to utilize this next generation technology to provide long term cost controls for its customers.”

Drew McEwen, Chief Commercial Officer of AURA AERO noted, "Competitive advantages of ERA as a cargo aircraft with respect to traditional turboprops, include lower operating costs, optimized payload capacity for typical short haul freight and increased safety through state-of-the-art avionics and flight controls.”

The ERA order book is now up to 570 aircraft valued at $9 billion and is anticipated to enter into service by the end of the decade. AURA AERO is based at the Toulouse-Francazal Airport, France.

FMI:  aura-aero.com/en/ , www.alpine-air.com/